An Unexpected Tale
by bamitsbeth79
Summary: If you think this has an happy ending, you haven't been paying attention. Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth My own version of season 3, the dialogue is different and the story has now come to a close. I don't own Game Of Thrones. Thank you to all who have read it.
1. Chapter 1

"Do you think that you can accomplish this quest Brienne?" The lady Catelyn Stark questioned.

"I shall not fail you m'lady." The task was simple; all she had to do was get the Kingslayer back to King's Landing safely. There was no doubt about it- she would achieve this. It was a relatively easy task considering what her skill sets were. Brienne grabbed the Kingslayer by his arms to pull him from the cell he'd been imprisoned in, his shackles banging against each other so loud that she thought that they were going to be discovered straight away. Fortunately the guards probably thought that Jaime was squirming for attention again, begging for his release. Now was the day that the secret quest had fallen upon her to escort the Kingslayer back home. No doubt Catelyn Stark would be punished for this; the Kingslayer was King Robbs' hostage after all. Robb wouldn't hurt his mother, so she stayed safe in that context at least.

"Pray, please be fast. Do what you have to. These are my orders. You may do as you please once the Lannister is taken to his rightful place once again. You have been a loyal friend Brienne; even for the short time we have known each other. Stay safe and may the seven Gods be with you."

Brienne frowned, "My grace, would you not like me to come back to your side once my task is completed?"

Catelyn Stark just gave a small, pitiful smile in return. "No, my child. You are still young, you can accomplish many things yet. Anyway by the time you want to return, we will be gone from here. Who knows what will have happened to us...I'm sorry Brienne."

"As you command my lady. Thank you for everything. We should be going." Jaime Lannister had resumed quiet throughout the whole of the conversation. He was now being tugged towards to tent flap, feeling the cool breeze wash over him, cleansing him.

"Good luck." With that they descended slyly through the camp, hoping not to draw any notice to themselves. The alarms would sound as soon as the guards had noticed that the Kingslayer, their captive, was missing- so time ran short for them. Eventually they gained quite some distance between themselves and the Stark camp. By this point Jaime has though it was suitable to start rambling on about all kinds of nonsense with Brienne had no interest him. She'd heard the rumours about him, knew what he was capable of, but there was one thing for she knew for certain- the kingslayer was not escaping her clutches.


	2. Chapter 2

An hour or so later, the sun was beginning to rise. No doubt that soon the King of the North would find out that his hostage needed for gaining leverage against the Lannister family was missing. At this time the Kingslayer was just trying to get under her skin, making rude comments or blunt insults. Not that she mattered. She'd been treated like that before, by other men mostly. Having the most 'dangerous' man on a rope in her hand thought to be quite funny on the contrary. It was like having a dog, though she thought it best not to speak these things aloud.

"Come on woman, how much further? I'm tired and hungry and you're boring my brains out with your silence. Don't you know how to make simple conversation whore?"

Brienne had stood all of his other remarks, but this pushed at her buttons too hard. In the heat of the moment she had shoved him into a tree trunk with more strength then he imagined possible taking her small size into account. Their faces almost touching, her face became a deathly whisper, "Listen here pig! I am not whore, do you hear me? I could easily push this blade of mine through your chest and be done with you by now. Sadly I'm not going to because I made someone a promise. Therefore I swear to the new and old Gods if you say one more snarky comment, I will personally slice off you head and send it to your family as a present okay?"

He gave a shake of his dirty, blond mused up hair, "Though if anyone had of walked by just now and seen us in that position- only God knows what they'd think we were up to." He winked and continued walking ahead. Soon they came up to a small boat on the shore that had been placed there the night before for them to use.

"Get in." Brienne ordered. She'd had enough of his nonsense already and they hadn't been with each other for over 24 hours yet.

"I love it when you take control like that-" He voluntarily stepped into the boat and lowered himself down. "-it gives me shivers."

Brienne sighed, only to look at him and see him winking again. She settled down into the opposite side of the canoe and gathered a paddle. Within a couple of minutes they were sailing down the river. It was peaceful, the sounds of nature being the loudest noise there was- even Jaime was silent. The water wasn't blue, it looked transparent. Colourful rocks were scattered upon the river bed, multicolour fish swam about avoiding the pull of the boat. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, the ride had to come to a stop. They pulled the boat onto the shore leading to the footpath they would have to use for their journey to Kings Landing.


	3. Chapter 3

They had been strolling along upon the dusted path for about two hours now. Brienne was thirsty and hungry, though that didn't matter right now. If she slept or went off wandering through the trees looking for firewood then the Kingslayer would have a chance to escape- although that chance was minimal she didn't want to take that risk. Before she knew it three men in chainmail came stumbling out from the clearing ahead. One pointed at them, they both stayed silent.

"Ay there, hold up. Who have you got there? What are you doing?"

Brienne and Jaime slyly glanced at each other before Brienne spoke, "Just taking a prisoner back where he belongs. Mind us now, let us be on our way."

The three men started laughing; it was more of a drunken laugh then anything. "You sound like a whore, but nah you definitely don't look like one. You're more of a man then a woman. Tell me do you actually have anything we'd enjoy under that armour?" They turned to one another, rumbling with laughter again. Brienne shrugged the sexual insult off and took that as a sign that they could continue on their way. The pair started brisk walking past the men when they were pulled to a halt again. "Hey! I don't remember telling you that you two could leave?" The bearded knight stared closely at Jaime, "Wait, is that Jaime Lannister?"

As soon as the last word was out the man who was doing all of the talking, a sword had been thrust in the stomach using Brienne's sliver blade. The other two came stalking towards her, just as the Kingslayer had perched himself upon a round boulder. With a CLANG the two blades smashed together, the noise echoing throughout the area. Brienne ducked and swung the sword into the second man's knees, causing him to cry out in pain and crouch upon the dirt. She then spun round, barely evading another sword. Then she put all of her strength into the blade and caught the still standing man through his abdomen, the sharp blade pushing some of his intestines out on the other side. Behind her the lone man slowly brought himself to his feet, but was in so much pain from her last blow that she only had to shove him and he went face first in the ground again. Brienne lifted her long sword up her, sweat showing on her forehead and heaved it down fast. The only noise afterwards was the sound of the knight's parted head rolling around in the gravel. Jaime Lannister was still sat there at this point gobsmacked by what had just occurred. How could a woman that small be so strong and defeat 3 grown men alone?

Brienne went and gather the rope attached to the Lannister again, with a small push in the direction of the forest, he had to start walking. "Get moving, clearly the road isn't safe, so although it may be longer we have to go through the forest instead."


	4. Chapter 4

They were absolutely staving, filthy and bored. "Do you realise how much longer it will take to get to King's Landing going through the trees and forest beast?" He spun around almost causing them to fall.

"Yes Kingslayer I am aware. Alas it's safer and this is how I'm going to get you home in one piece. Keep going." Soon enough they had reached the edge of a vast stream. Up ahead a large bridge could be seen, unfortunately it looked like the only way across in the direction needed. "Right, listen here. We are moving across the bridge, the bridge is in plain view so we will need to be fast. You keep your mouth shut and we'll get you home quicker."

They moved quickly, quietly, they were three quarters over the bridge when Jaime spun round with one of Brienne's swords in his hands. Before she could react he had disconnected the rope from her hand which was holding him in place. He was free, dammit. She automatically grabbed the helm of her sword and towered towards him, looking fierce. Jaime attacked, their swords met with a SMASH. Sounds of metal were audible from miles away, Brienne spun and he dodged. He tried to go for her legs, but all she had to do was take one step back and he had missed. The eldest Lannister swung up high with his blade; she the daughter of Tarth met him with hers. With a sly punch to the chest he'd fallen upon the ground. Their blades met once again and were pushed to the stone wall of the bridge; his subsided, leaving her to scrape along the stone edge. Jaime had managed to get himself up again, only to be knocked back down with a backhand across the face from the small woman. The Kingslayer had lost nearly all of his strength from being tied down, shackled, and lying in his own mess for months.

Brienne took pity on the once dangerous man and helped him back to his feet, their battle was interrupted when a deep male voice was heard behind them, "Ha it seems that your woman is beating you where you stand boy." The duo were surrounded by a large of men, bearded and rugged. The somewhat leader of the tribe looked towards them again, once the laughing had died down. "So Jaime Lannister I presume, it seems the rumours were true. You don't look like much of what the stories tell you to be." He paused, steering his glaze to Brienne. "Heh heh look what we have here. Is this supposed to be your root back to King's Landing, she's not much is she. Not feminine either, a beast some might say." Foul men's laughs were heard again, but Brienne was used to it.

Brienne grabbed onto the back of Jaime's stained shirt, "Look you've had your fun. I don't know how you found us but just let us be on our way."

The men stopped and stood still, creating a barricade so that no way through was possible. "I don't think so; the Kingslayer would be a very tasty ransom to have. Imagine the amount of gold we would get. No, we won't let you pass because you'll be coming with us...darling."

Both were covered with large rope and put into the small back of the horse, not knowing where they would be heading.


	5. Chapter 5

Brienne and Jaime were back to back on the horse; both were nearly passing out from the hunger at this dire point. Brienne whispered silently to Jaime, "We're going to escape these foul men, trust me."

"Brienne they'll kill you if you even try. Don't risk it."

She huffed, "I can handle them, and I beat you on the bridge, so I can handle a couple of bandits."

"Woman I don't doubt it, and you weren't beating me. I was just a bit tired is all. Just please, don't do anything stupid."

Afterwards the woman said nothing, before long the darkness had started to envelop them all and preparing a camp for the night seem like a worthy plan. A fire was set up; Brienne and Jaime were wrapped around trees with the strong ropes. All of the men stayed rowdy despite the time of the night. Food was soon handed out, not much, perhaps a slice of bread and cheese for the prisoners. Either way even that small amount of food was enough to give them both that tiny boost of strength. One bandit spoke loudly, "I'm bored. Wait, I know what we could do-" The rest of his words were drawled out by the sound of the night among them.

A couple of moments later, Brienne was being cut down from the tree she sat at, "Hey! What are you doing?! Get off me!" she screamed, but to no avail. The large group of about ten men dragged her off within the bushes and forest. Jaime tried to see any sign of her, but they must of dragged her too far in. Suddenly ear piercing screams were heard when the location where Brienne was dragged off to. The screams made him feel sick to his stomach, the bunch of bandit men were hurting her- God no, they were going to rape her. The sadistic thought made him feel even sicker then before- he'd hear everything. Even though he didn't Brienne well, or at all, Jaime Lannister felt compelled that there was at least something he could do to make the dreaded screams stop.

The leader of the tribe was one of the only ones still left within the camp, it was worth a shot. "You know who she is right?" There was no reply. "She's the only daughter left from the Lord of Tarth. They say that Tarth is filled to the brim with sapphires. You could not only get a huge ransom from having me, but if you send her father note of her capture- well then you'll be the richest man there is."

"Fine. She'll be a ransom as well."

Screams of pain and torture could still be heard. "You'll only get the sapphires if she's unharmed..."

Locke (the bandit leader) stared right through the Lannister; it sent a chill through his spine. Without warning he raised from the tree trunk which he sat and followed the pathway of the screams. In next to no time Brienne was back, being tied to a tree as she had done before. No signs of anything serious had happened could be shown on her, Jaime couldn't understand why he was so relieved. She was looking into his eyes, except he couldn't meet her curious gaze. Locke bent down to Jaime's level and demanded, "Here boy." His ropes were detached and he was taken to be sat down upon a wooden log. "Now, my men couldn't be entertained tonight thanks to your words- we should still give them something to be entertained by don't you think?" Two of the men then pushed Jaime onto the log, hard. One of his hands was taken and stretched out in front of everyone. At that moment a colossal blade smashed through his hand, forcing separate fingers from their joints one at a time. They stopped at four fingers, leaving the thumb intact; Locke found the one finger left amusing. The appalling pain started to build up and throughout the forest a deafening, male scream of pain swept within the forest.


	6. Chapter 6

Dawn swept over the lands of Westeros, awaking even the most timid of creatures who raised their heads ready to start the new day. Black, pain, the taste of something bitter could be tasted of him. Jaime bleakly opened his eyes at the first sign of light, everything hurt. He tried to move his hand wanting to rub it over his sore eyes- when the atrocious torture that was pain instantaneously showered throughout him. The Kingslayer had to bite back his discomfort to stop from screaming, he knew that would probably cost him another several fingers for waking Locke's beauty sleep. By now the tears were forming down his drained face, nevertheless he refused to let them go free as the white lines through his grimy skin would make it that much more obvious- sadly he knew that would only spur on his group of torturers.

Jaime Lannister was just so weak at this point; he could barely manage to keep his eyelids from falling. Finally he gave into the bliss that was sleep. Jaime was unexpectedly jolted awake and braced himself for an unbearable amount of pain which was on the way, along with the constant taunts and mocks. The shaking resumed, by this point he had no choice but to wake himself to face the day. Alas as the drowsy eyes opened in slits and suddenly shot wide when he saw whom was stood in front of him. His mouth was dry but he managed to croak out, "Brienne? What are you doing? How did you untie yourself?" He was flabbergasted.

"Ssh Kingslayer, stay silent, let's get out of here." She somehow managed to undo his bindings and slip them loose. The large woman grabbed for his hands, but when he let out a hiss of pain, her palm flew to his mouth. Soon Brienne removed her hand after making sure that no one had awoken, they then walked together, picking up some food and stealing two horses on the way.

Whilst riding Jaime looked at this strange woman he still couldn't figure out. "Why did you help me escape Brienne? You could have gone yourself and no one would have known."

At first the armoured female said nothing and finally muttered, "What is it you Lannisters always say, 'A Lannister always pays his debts'."

The Kingslayer spoke no more afterwards. He if he intended to or not, saved Brienne from what was going to be rape and in her return of that debt, she'd saved him. Their debt was paid, now the goal was to get back to King's Landing and find some way to deal with the monstrosity that used be his hand.

"Stop right there, you really didn't think it'd be that easy."


	7. Chapter 7

The feeling of hope was beginning to disappear along with the blowing wind. Behind them stood only Locke and only him, standing behind the lonesome road they'd just visited. His men could be anywhere; maybe in the trees, maybe not- but they had to be stood somewhere just waiting for the signal. Jaime and Brienne just looked at each other in defeat and knew that in a moment's time they'd be bound and gagged with those wretched ropes and rustic chains once more.

Jaime was the first one to break the built up tension, he was getting weaker and weaker due to his injury- the Kingslayer wouldn't last long without proper medical attention, that was for sure, but in Locke's company, he wouldn't get any kind of help- more so for humour purposes. "Look...sir, I need help, medical help, we need food- just let us go...please."

An abrupt shot of laughter was coming from their captor; he had knelt down, small tears forming at his eyes. With a deep breath he had immediately resumed him regular, hard facade and spoke in a clear, harsh tone that made it clear he wasn't the kind of fellow who negotiated. "So boy, you seriously think I'm going to let the 'Kingslayer' and his whore go free?" He sighed dramatically. "That's not going to happen. I'd have thought our little 'incident' yesterday would have taught you not to defy me. I see now that it didn't work. Well me and my lot still want our pay so that means boy, that you and the bitch have to stay alive- but it doesn't mean in one piece. I wonder how much more I could get for, I don't know, your legs? Arms? Ooh Haha the possibilities are endless- yet I know which item I'm going to be showered in rubies for-" The forest goes silent, as three visible sets of eyes tumble down to the same area.

Locke takes out the same blade he'd used the night before upon Jaime's fingers, the dry blood crusted the edge. The jagged end starts flowing between both Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth. "Hmm, now who goes first- the cripple or huge freak?"

Both of the prisoners begin to get extremely anxious now. "Now friend we know you don't want to do this-"

The burly man chuckles again, "Oh but you don't understand, I really, really do. I will enjoy hearing the sounds of both of your screams as my gang chops you up, limb by limb. Though we're going to take our time-" His gaze falls upon Brienne. "-Oh we're definitely going to take our sweet time." His grin becomes disgusting and spine-chilling.

With a whistle the rest of Locke's men come out from their positions, ready to pounce. Locke is increasing his speed towards them, getting so close. "Look, wait, wait, please. You can do what you want with me, just let Brienne go- let her go in one piece."

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU IDIOT, YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" He stops and takes another deep breath. "How about this, I'll let my men have fun with her and then I'll chop off your dick, my prince, and FUCK HER WITH IT?!"

Jaime and Brienne shared a knowing look which led the Kingslayer to mutter just loud enough for Locke and his men to hear. "Well in that case, it seems you're going to have to catch us first! Brienne, run!"

They both ran until their hearts were left wanting to give up, through a maze of trees that all looked identical. Having to constantly dodge the arrows being fired, running more, this way and that. It was extremely lucky for them that what Locke's men made up for in strength, they lacked in weapons. A couple of minutes rest is all they could afford behind a grey boulder, with the predators in fast on the tail of the prey. Soon enough they managed to outrun them enough to settle down for another sweet time of rest, though as they did both Jaime and Brienne faced complete darkness when huge black hoods were snapped over their heads. That's it they were done for; this time there would be no escape. A strong Northern accent could be heard, the Kingslayer knew he'd heard it somewhere before. With more talking going on, more Northern accents could be heard, now who could be their new captors?

"Sam, who has your group got there?"

"I'm not sure- the guys don't really pay attention to me. All they said is that, it's a man and woman they found hiding near some rocks or something."

"Right, so we may have gotten ourselves into some kind of bandit raid then?"

"I don't know...I don't think so...Maybe. I mean look the man is clearly injured, we should get them some help."

"Sam I don't know- what if they're wildlings?"

"They don't look like wildlings...You are good person my friend—we should help them."

"You're right, get these hoods of them. Wait? What's that? Men incoming- bandits- ATTACK!"

Clashes of swords could be heard from the other side of the hoods, men shouting profanities, more men grunting and hitting the ground like flies. Soon enough the environment was quieter again and both of their hoods was soon abandoned. The light took some getting used to, but what really awoke Jaime Lannister was the lone severed head that rolled his way, the dead, empty eyes locked onto his- Locke. The Kingslayer glanced up to see someone he wasn't expecting. "I know you; I knew I knew your voice- Jon Snow."

Jon stared daggers into the tired eyes of his enemy, "Jaime Lannister..."


	8. Chapter 8

Time had passed agonisingly slow whilst the two foes shot daggers into each other- if only looks could kill...

Jon spoke to his fellow Night Watch men, never taking his eyes from the Kingslayer, "Hood him, free the woman."

Sam and the others went and helped Brienne up, making sure she had no visible or obvious injuries that needed seeing to. The men nodded, referring to that she required no medical attention and went to re-hood Jaime when Brienne spoke calmly and clearly, "I am so very grateful for you and your men helping us back there, but I'm afraid you can't take Jaime Lannister- if you still plan to, you'll have to take me with you." She stood tall like a lioness watching over her pray, a mother staying with her child- but be damned if Brienne thought of Jaime in that way.

The men made no intention to move and all looked towards their friend for an order. Finally after studying this strange woman for a short while he wondered, "Why do care for a Kingslayer?" Then after realizing the possibility, "Who do you work for? You support the Lannisters don't you?"

The blond woman quickly spoke, "I don't care for him, and do you really think I want to be here? I'm hungry, I'm thirsty and tired- alas this is my quest. If I know correctly you're Lord Jon Snow, bastard of Winterfell, your father was Ned Stark and your mother unknown, you have two sisters and 3 brothers- and I also know that it's perfectly acceptable why you have hatred towards the Lannisters- but till the end of my mission, I serve only Catelyn Stark."

"Why should I believe anything you say? You could be working for that scum over there."

"Your words do hurt me so." Jaime murmured in the background, bearing a sly smirk.

Before anyone could stop him Jon was near the Kingslayer in an instant, lifting his dirty head back to look into his eyes. The anger from Jon was clear to see in just his voice alone, his eyes gone dark with a glimmer of murderous light. "I could kill you right now. I could slip my blade deep into your throat and watch as the life drains from you."

"But you won't."

Jon stared into the man who had supported those who murdered his father, he leaned in even closer than possible and whispered, "And why not Kingslayer?"

Jaime returned the silent whisper, "Because we still have Sansa in King's Landing, sending my head on a plate will probably end with you receiving your sisters- so what do you think?"

Sam placed a hand on Jon's shoulder and almost immediately the man of the Night's Watch flung the Kingslayer to the ground, knowing that the other may had won this round- but Jon wasn't about to give up so easily, he would win the battle. "Here's what's going to happen, so listen up. My lady it seems that you and the Kingslayer are going to be taking a trip up to the wall, called it a diversion if you'd like. Sam, you round up a couple of men here and take anything we might need, get them to clear these bodies as well- remember they have to be burned, every bit of them. Everyone move out."

Jon's eager friend then gathered about five men out of the large group to deal with the tasks set and straight away fumbled his way back to his companion who was awaiting on ready to go horses. The two 'prisoners' on the back of other one. Soon after their trek had started, unfortunately Sam wasn't one to keep quiet for long and ended up trying to talk to Brienne, whom he seemed to be intrigued with. "So my lady, what even is your name?"

Brienne stayed quiet, giving smouldering looks. With a nudge from the man behind her she finally replied, "My name is Brienne, Brienne of Tarth."

Jon looked back at her, "You're royal blood? A noble should not be in company of such a dangerous man."

"Well like I said I don't want to be here, but certain events led me to Lady Stark and she requested me to get him back to King's landing safely, I wasn't lying about that."

Jon continued to face forward, "So, getting the Kingslayer to his home safely, how's that going?" In that moment Brienne turned away, ashamed. Soon Jon sighed, "I offer my apologies, that wasn't right of me to say."

"No it wasn't, but you're right. It's not gone well at all." The crows and the others travelled a few miles further in silence before Brienne could be heard again, "So Jon Snow, what are you and your companions doing so far from the wall?"

Sam excitedly shouted, "Bandits and Wildings all the lark, some had travelled further then we thought!"

"Sam!" Jon yelled, in shock that his friend had just told private business to his possible enemies. His constant sighing had become somewhat of a habit for him lately. Deciding to clear up the matter he stated, "What we do is our-"

The numerous dark horses all came to a halt, simultaneously, all eyes looking at the same thing.

"What in the Seven Gods name is that?"


	9. Chapter 9

The look of pure and utter terror was on everyone's faces- they could hear the ear piercing screams all the way from where they were perched. Jon, Brienne, Jaime and the other members of the Night's Watch looked upon the Twins; if they had arrived maybe half an hour earlier instead they would have heard the sounds of laughter and loud music. Now all that was sensed was the Rains of Castamere, the smell of the dead and the silence of the forest.

By this time, the fighting had calmed down considerably- there was perhaps a sudden CLANG of swords that would startle the group, but apart from that even from where they were, still on the Kings road, death was all around them.

Jon turned around to speak quietly to those with startled eyes, "Now listen here, I don't know what has gone on here- The Twins are normally a place of peace, but we are going to go down there and see if we can find out what's happened."

Sam was fidgety, even the noise of his own trembling voice was frightening him, "Jon I don't think this is a good idea..."

"Calm down Sam, people might need our help, you can stay here if you want, I can send a patrol to come and get you once we've looked around if you'd like?"

"No!" That earned him a row of numerous hushes. "Sorry, no. I'll come with you."

With that all the men and their dark horses started for the blood smelling trail that led to The Twins. As they inched closer, the music finally came to a stop and the world around them seemed to sweep up in a mask of silence too. They continued on their way, hoping they'd find life of some sort. However when they arrived the smell was powerful, it was so over-bearing they physically were choking on it.

With a cough Sam spoke, "I'm sorry Jon, I can't continue- I'll wait for you here." Another member of the Night's Watch stayed with him as they all rode further ahead into the place of a massacre. Behind them they heard the last of Sams' voice, "I think I'm going to be sick." Along with a deep chuckle from the other man.

The body count started rising extremely fast, sometimes the bunch would discard their horses to check if any soul could be saved, but to no avail. Each and every corpse was encumbered with oblivion, all reaching for death and peace together with both hands. Tents were still ablaze, the flames starting to die out gradually- something terrible had happened here. What made Jon so certain of the fact was that within time he'd noticed some unravelled flags of Winterfell lying about and the body upon body of soldiers bearing his sigil.

"Water... Please..."

Everyone spun around looking for the source of the voice. They found the wounded middle aged man slumped at the base of a auburn tree trunk. Jon immediately helped the dying man with his wish; each person looked on with mournful eyes as the stranger drank greedily from the pouch. "Thank you...truly."

The crow spoke softly, "My friend what happened here?"

"Murder...Betrayal...Death—there was so much death...Important people killed...Good people dead too...Dying myself..."

Jon probed the conversation, "Do you know who was betrayed, what happened before all the death?"

Bitterly the dying soul coughed, spitting out blood, "Wedding...Starks...Lannisters...Frey...I was outside—Giving out food—Rains of Castamere played—Heard screams—Bad men came out—Killed everyone." He took Jons' hand, "Please...Let my poor soul go."

"I can't."

"Here. He deserves peace." Brienne took the silver blade from Jon and bent down to speak to the shell of a man in hushed voices. She slowly then sunk the blade deeply within him, he only groaned and suddenly the remaining life he had left was gone.

Within seconds Jon Snow had The Kingslayer by the throat pushing him against the nearest tree. He hissed as he spoke, "The Lannisters did this- all of this. My family was in there, they're dead thanks to your family. You're sick- I'm not helping you- actually I think I'll slice your throat right here and laugh when you fall dead upon the ground!"

Brienne of Tarth placed her hand wearily upon Jons' shoulder, "Just let him go Jon, he doesn't know what his family has been doing."

He spun his head at her in a flash of a second, "How do you know? Why do you even care about him? Do not defend him."

Now Jaime felt the need to intervene, "Brienne, let him. Yet Jon just know that I knew nothing of this event. I've been chained up in my own dirt for weeks now, how could I have any part of this?" Jon's eyes on Jaime were poison filled.

"Shh! What was that?"

"Jon I think there's someone there."

"It's probably only Sam."

Twigs snapped, diverting all their attentions to the opposite direction of the massacre. It definitely couldn't be Sam.

Jon never took his eyes off what was coming for them and silently whispered, "Everyone go now!"


	10. Chapter 10

It seemed the only place of sanctuary for the group to seek refuge in was in the great hall of the Twins. When everyone pilled in they all doubled over from the gut wrenching smell of blood that smothered the air surrounding them and started soaking their mouths. No one had actually had time to turn around by this point and as they did, they were met with death itself. So this was it- the Red Wedding it was being called. Mutilated corpses scattered the decorated hall, crimson had gushed over what used to be once white, enveloping all. All the tables, chairs, food once used for a grand celebration now would be remembered as being a location of a bloodbath- the winning of the Lannisters in the Great War.

Jon slowly sauntered around the edge of the foyer, avoiding those who hadn't been lucky and those who didn't stand a chance. There his eyes fell upon a woman; several wounds bombarded her stomach and close to her on his back lay...The King who lost the North.

Immediately Jon ran to him and slid down at his side. "Robb! Robb, wake up! Please just open your eyes, it's me Robb, it's Jon, I'm here." Jon Snow could feel the tears streaming down his face, but couldn't care less. His brother, his friend, the King had been butchered during a time when he was among friends- instead he was doomed to be slaughtered by a bunch of traitors.

He put his lips to his brothers' hand, weeping openly. Sam placed his large palm onto Jon's shoulder providing comfort, Jon pulled down the other man into a hug. Now Sam was like a brother to Jon and Jon was going to make sure nothing terrible would happen to him either.

Brienne could see Catelyn Stark on the other side of the room, lying in a pool of her own blood. A few tears were shed quietly; Jaime noticed and softly grabbed her hand. He whispered, "I'm sorry Brienne, I had no idea this would happen."

Brienne looked at the man she was supposed to have gotten home safely and then at the woman she had made vows to- it was like she'd failed them both. "I know, I should've stayed with her- I could have saved them."

He whispered fiercely, "If you'd have done that you'd be dead too Brienne." The Kingslayer placed his good hand upon the woman's cheek, but the intimate moment was interrupted by the sound of voices outside. "Shh." Jaime held up a finger, placing his dirt covered ear to the solid wood of the door.

A deep, husky masculine voice could be heard, "You couldn't have done anything to save them girl. There's nothing left here, let's go." The Kingslayer could have sworn that he'd heard that voice somewhere else before.

"No." Another voice could be heard, this time a young female it sounded like. "My family was here, we can't go yet."

"Girl they're dead. You an' me both know it. Come on."

This elected a sigh from the female, "Alright."

"So where else do you have family girl? Hopefully alive ones."

Slowly the voices began to get quieter as they started walking away. "Well my auntie lives in the Eyrie. We should go there."

Jon's eyes widened in shock, "It can't be." He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, pushing all those in his way to the side, the crow burst through the door. "Arya?"

The pair froze and turned around at a snail's pace. The female that had turned looked nothing like his little sister. This girl had dirty, short hair- well she was muddy and blood covered in general. She wore clothes too large for her and not meant for a woman. Despite this at her side she handled 'Needle'. "Jon?" The voice matched Arya perfectly; Jon could feel the tears welling up in his blue eyes again.

Soon they embraced and held each other as tightly as they could. In this tragic event they had both lost their much loved brother and mother. Jon was just so happy to see his long lost sister, thinking she was dead, that he didn't notice whom her companion was until he broke the silence. "So is this when I get paid?"

They both looked at him; Arya had the same face of annoyance when in company of the other man. Jon soon pushed Arya behind him, "You're the Hound, right?"

By this point everyone within the murder hall had exited, bearing witness to all the shenanigans. Sandor chuckled, "That is what they call me. Now girl am I getting my bloody money or what?"

"What are doing with my sister? What money?"

"The girl is my ransom; let's just say we met again in unexpected circumstances."

Jon gripped the helm of his sword, "Jon no. Leave him be, we've been trying to find our family, come with us."

Jon turned to Jaime Lannister, "You knew him the longest, what do you think?"

Jaime was surprised that he was able to give his opinion on anything, but he wasn't about to let it slide. "We haven't seen the Hound since the Battle of Blackwater Bay. So it seems that he just wimped out of the battle instead of fighting- however he was loyal to Joffrey for years."

The Hound roared, "Fuck the King! I didn't wimp out of anything boy, I decided that my life wasn't worth giving up for that queer bastard!"

They all raised an eyebrow, until Jaime spoke calmly. "You know that's treason right?"

"Are ya gonna try and arrest me? Kill me, are ya? I'd like to see you try- anyway you don't look like you could put up much of a fight right now."

The Kingslayer hadn't even noticed his lack of fingers for some time now, he really needed to get them looked at. Even so, the Hound was correct. What use could Jaime do for the King now with a lack thereof of multiple fingers?

Jaime gripped Brienne's sword, "Shall we see about that?"

He grinned; the Hound equipped his sword ready. "Ready when you are."


	11. Chapter 11

Brienne's eyes flicked from the man she was supposed to be protecting to the newest edition of the group- a huge, burly man he was. Of course the woman had heard stories about the man with the scarred face, probably all of Westeros knew the stories, but each version had become distorted from ear to ear, so the truth of the tales definitely couldn't be called reliable. Either way he had a terrifying reputation, no matter where he went everyone knew his name- whereas it was from the stories passed around or the noticeable burns occupying half of his round face.

Snapping back to the present moment Jaime and the Hound were circling each other, an aura of combat filled the musty air. They were predators waiting to strike.

Brienne couldn't let this start, she couldn't let this happen- not to Jaime. Glancing around she sought for anything that could be used as a sign of distraction, but it had to be something nearby, something practical. As it was known not a great deal of people truly knew the Hound or his weaknesses; alas no one really knew anyone in all honesty, that was the most dangerous thing to do in this world- trust someone.

Her face scrunched up in extreme concentration- there must be something she hadn't thought of, but what it was she had no clue. Brienne's mind continued scouring through every story, every myth she'd heard about the butch model of masculinity who was hungrily eying up her captive. Large blue eyes fell onto the Hound's rough, burnt skin- could it be possible?

If the rumours deemed true, then this certainly could help the soon to be dire situation. Within mere seconds Brienne had gathered a quite frankly huge branch from a nearby uprooted tree and swung it with all of her force into the flames that were still licking up the side of a tent. She held her breath with anticipation as she did this, unsure wither she should be feeling fear or excitement instead. Immediately the tree of a woman threw the burning branch towards the dog, as he often referred to himself. The Hound didn't see the branch till the flames lathered up onto his attire; he roared more so from being terrified than actually being injured- this created a good enough scene of panic within the group to give Brienne enough time to yank the non-mutilated hand of Jaime and run into the depths of the forest surrounding them.

Sure enough it was obvious that their absence would be dually noted, but would they actually do anything about it? Would there be a search party? The other group did have an advantage over them; they were the ones who had: the horses, more people, all the food- the group even knew where Brienne was intending to take Jaime Lannister- yet would they waste their resources and energy just find them? Brienne certainly hoped not.

Brienne hadn't noticed the looks that had come her way from the Kingslayer; all she was focusing on was the way forward and possibly their inevitable capture. Jaime couldn't keep his tired eyes from the giantess before him, he hadn't got the foggiest idea why but there was something—something different about Brienne. To break the silence he factually stated, "You know I'd heard about you before I was placed under your protection, people used to call you Brienne the Beauty, they used to laugh when they said it."

Brienne stiffened at those poor choice of words, nobody had called her that since she worked for King Renly, despite this she kept her mouth firmly closed and never once turned. To Jaime that was on his part to either continue his course of words or to shut up- he chose the former. "It's almost like they were making fun of you when they said it- Brienne the Beauty- and yet I don't find it funny at all."

Even though she wanted to stop and confront Jaime and ask what the hell he was talking about she didn't. Silence consumed her and although it probably was nothing, certainly nothing that indicated interest from his part, but continuously hearing those words, 'Brienne the Beauty' from his lips did something to her that she'd rather not think about.

Similarly like the Hound, she'd heard stories about Jaime too. Most of them consisted of incest, betrayal of Kings or conspiracy to more murder amongst powerful people. So when setting up camp still in sight of what looked like a thousand more trees, she asked, "Well you seem to know about me, yet you fail to think about if I know anything about you." It didn't take them long to make camp, that was mainly due to the fact they had no food or anything for warmth except for the environment around them, at least the Kingslayer still had a sword.

Jaime looked at her sternly as she rested against the bark of the nearest tree. "Do you know anything?"

One look at the injured man confirmed her suspicions that there was some truth to at least some of the accusations against him, but to which ones was the question. "Maybe."

It stayed peacefully quiet whilst they both contributed the need of a fire, one gathering a couple of chunks of nearby wood and the other looking out for anything they could feast upon. An hour later they had a timid fire going and small parts of pigeon in their hands. "I no doubt can guess what you've heard on your travels...depending on what exactly you've heard it might be true." Jaime glanced up at Brienne awaiting her to state whatever rumour she'd heard, but he got nothing. He continued, "I know why you probably hate me, just like everyone else does. The Kingslayer...Oathbreaker...Man without honour...You've heard of wildfire?"

Brienne's interest was piqued, the Lannister sounded so broken. "Of course."

"The Mad King was obsessed with it. He loved to watch people burn, to leave their skin blackened and blistered and melted off their bones. He burnt Lords he didn't like and Hands that had disobeyed him and anyone who was against him. Before long half the country was against him, there were traitors everywhere. So he had his Pyromancer place cases of Wildfire placed all over the city, beneath the Sept of Baelor, the slums of Fleabottom, the houses, the people's taverns, even the Red Keep itself. Finally the day of reckoning came, Robert Baratheon marched on the capital after his victory at the Trident, but my father rode first, the whole Lannister army at his back, promising to protect the city against the rebels. I knew my father better than that; he's never been one to pick the losing side. I told the Mad King as much, I urged him to surrender peacefully, but the King didn't listen to me, he didn't listen to Varys who tried to warn him, but he did listen to Grand Maester Pycelle- the grey sunken cunt. You couldn't trust the Lannisters he said, the Lannisters have always been true friends of the crown, so he opened the gates and my father sacked the city. Once again I came to the King, begging him to surrender, he told me to bring him my father's head. Then he turned to his Pyromancer "Burn them all" he said. Burn them in their homes, burn them in their beds, tell me if your precious Renly commanded you to kill your own father and stand by whilst thousands of men, women and children are burned alive, would you have done it? Would you have kept your oath then? First I killed the Pyromancer and then when the King turned to flee I drove my sword into his back. Burn them all, he kept saying, Burn them all. I don't think he expected to die, he meant to burn with the rest of us and rise again- reborn as a dragon, turn his enemies into ash. I slit his throat to make sure that wouldn't happen. That where Ned Stark found me."

"If this is true, why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you tell Lord Stark?"

Jaime just sighed, "Stark? You think honourable Ned Stark wanted to hear my side? He judged me guilty the moment he set eyes on me."

Brienne couldn't comprehend everything she'd heard within the past couple of minutes. Could this all be true? Yet it could easily be a lie to manipulate her, but from the emotion blaring from the man, she believed him. "Why tell me?"

The Kingslayer-no- Jaime looked into her baby blue eyes, "Because I trust you." He raised himself to his feet and trudged, holding on the near stump of a hand he had left and placed himself at her side.

Not wanting to let her nerves show, she quickly spoke, "What are you doing?"

Not really caring for her question he laid himself down next to where she sat under the tree and pressed into her side with his body. "Well the fire is about to burn out any moment, and unless you want to freeze to death, then this is the only solution left." Jaime let his eyes float shut, but not before Brienne noticed the line of tears on the verge of shedding due to the pain of his confession.

Brienne knew that Jaime didn't go around and tell anybody what he'd told her in the deep, frightening forest regularly, so she pondered on what that meant for both of them. Despite this Jaime was right the fire didn't last much longer and soon the darkness started to cover them in a thick blanket. Slowly, not to wake the Kingsl—Jaime, she laid down too- their faces only millimeters apart. She could feel his breath on her face, although it wasn't the best smell due to his long confinement, it didn't faze her in the slightest. There was something different- dare she say interesting about this man, but Brienne made it absolutely certain that she would get him back to King's Landing if it was the last thing she'd do.


	12. Chapter 12

In the cool morning that followed, Brienne had awoken early to gather all they had and get started on their route to King's Landing as fast as possible. There was no food to be prepared sadly, their empty stomachs would probably alert people to their presence on the oncoming travel, but that was unimportant if they continued going through the forest. The last thing for Brienne the Beauty to do was rouse the Jaime; she'd never awoken royalty before so she placed her large palm onto the man's shoulder and gently shook him.

"Ser Jaime, it is morning, we need to go."

The older man just rolled onto his other side, avoiding the sting in his dismembered hand. Brienne really didn't have time for this and grabbed both of his shoulders this time, bent down and shook him more fiercely. Eventually the leader of the King's Guard slowly widened his eyes, noticing how close they were.

He spoke with a flirtatious tone, "Oh Brienne, you wanted to get close again like last night, don't you?"

She sighed and resumed her previous position by their packed items, she preferred when he was asleep- at least she actually got peace and quiet.

A couple of hours later and they both had scoured a great mass of land and green forest, at least it felt like they had from the amount of time they'd been walking for. Within that time Jaime had not kept silent in the slightest, yet now to Brienne she'd gotten used to the constant questions and idle comments or adventurous stories. These were surprisingly interesting, but Brienne would never admit it.

"—So that's when the wolf had gone for Joffrey. Apparently he was wailing like a baby, but he'll always say it was a filthy lie but it was bloody hilarious to imagine. I know I shouldn't laugh."

Brienne spun around, "Is it true then? That Joffrey is your child, not King Robert's?"

Both members of their party froze. Jaime's face resembled a stone statue; there was not even a twitch of movement. Seven Gods, what had she done? It was none of her business and a rumour that could ruin everything in Westeros. She began to sweat, her eyes darting furiously from one area to another.

When Jaime finally did speak, Brienne was flabbergasted. "Yes, he is my child, as are the others." He walked forward to be ahead of her, but stopped at her side till his mouth was near her rounded ear. "I'd like that to be a secret kept between friends, if you wouldn't mind."

Brienne's mind was reeling, but she didn't know if it was from shock or horror. Obviously things like incest were accepted in numerous cities within Essos; even the great line of Targaryen's had followed that procedure. On the other hand, here in Westeros it was deeply frowned upon, especially in royal bloodlines. Yet there they were; Jaime had told Brienne the truth when he could have lied and Brienne now had access to some powerful information that could destroy the Lannisters. Yet she couldn't bring herself to think about revenge; he had just called her his friend. His friend- was it strange for Brienne to get butterflies in her stomach when he whispered these words to her? Probably, but he didn't see the shiver that his words caused Brienne to have, so she'd never admit to that either.

No words were said between the two for some time, until they spotted a small town up ahead. Of course they could just carry on in their journey through the forest but they had no food all that day and it was starting to strain on them- or they could try and persuade the innkeeper for a room for the night.

Brienne went out into the open space trying to see if she could tell where she was, but to no avail. Jaime Lannister was currently hidden between some rocks to not drawn attention to them. This gave Brienne no choice but to ask for her location. Quite close was an older farmer ploughing his small garden of a field, Brienne coughed for attention and the man looked at her from under a worn out old cap.

"Can I help ya, lass?"

Brienne fidgeted, "Actually yes, I was wondering if you could tell me our location please?"

The man looked her up and down with wonder and stated, "Don't cha know, lass? Well alright then, you are currently in Palisade Village lass."

Unfortunately Brienne had never been to this location before, "So would I be travelling the right way to King's Landing?"

The man just laughed, "Well you'd be on the way there if you followed the King's Road, which is just over there, but I'd say you're closer to Harrenhal lass."

"Alright, thank you." Brienne stalked off to where Jaime was crouched, she repeated everything she'd found out to him, so they could come up with some kind of plan.

Jaime remained quiet throughout; he scrunched his face up in thought. "So we could follow the King's Road which is very close, but would be extremely dangerous. We could stay here for the night, which might not be safe also or we could carry on walking and possibly come to Harrenhal?"

Brienne sat down next to the Kingslayer, "Yes pretty much. Yet we don't know how long it would take to get to Harrenhal by avoiding the King's Road and travelling on foot."

"Who said anything about walking?" The eldest Lannister twin stood and peeked at the village through the bushes.

Brienne put her calloused hand on him, "What do mean? What have you got in mind?"

Following the direction of Jaime's index finger, Brienne found herself looking at metal line which had rugged clothes on and an empty cart in the distance with no residents in sight.

"We can't."

Jaime realised how close they were standing, their noses only inches apart, but he didn't move away. "We can- Brienne we have to. Come on."

Only a couple of minutes later they heard the angry yells of a woman behind them, but dared not to look back as they travelled at lightning speed towards safety in the halls of Harrenhal.


	13. Chapter 13

Surprisingly their travel to Harrenhal was one of the most undisturbed and quiet parts of their 'adventure' they'd faced yet. It was unknown if this was a good thing or not since at the end of the day they were both out in the open, journeying on the King's Road. It'd be normal, even more so the closer the pair got to the daunting sight that was Harrenhal, to see traders or merchants with their horse ridden carts filled to the brim with foods of all kind- mostly home grown- however there were none.

Jaime and Brienne would have loved to see a farmer and his cart cross their path, after all they were both famished, the last time they'd ate had been the day before last and it was taking its toll. Though the duo refused to let hunger slow them down as they both knew they were so close to having shelter and food shoved at their mud ridden feet.

Unfortunately the closer they got to Harrenhal the more Brienne's mind started festering with anxiety. Jaime's hand wasn't doing so well, even though the Kingslayer himself would never admit to how much pain he was in, even not to Brienne. It was most probable that it had already become infected as they didn't have many chances to clean it on their voyage, but even worse the wounds hadn't even been tended to- there was no doubt it would be looked at during their stay at the dark, perilous Harrenhal- alas Brienne couldn't help but let her mind wander. Would they blame her for the injury Ser Jaime had suffered? She was the one who was supposed to get him safely, preferably in one piece, back to King's Landing. She'd obviously failed in that section. Or would they label her a traitor to the citizens of Westeros for serving both Renly Baratheon and Catelyn Stark? For now she could only wonder.

Within a small matter of time afterwards, due to both of their rapid paces, they arrived at the black gates of Harrenhal. Brienne had heard stories of this place growing up in Tarth, stories that made up her mind that they shouldn't stay here for long. Apparently Harrenhal was haunted; she knew it was probably a load of bollocks, but it was as if the air lessened in this area and the mist over took it- maybe the idea of ghosts wandering about wasn't so crazy after all. As they both climbed down from the stolen steeds Brienne wandered if these so-called 'Ghosts of Harrenhal' were once prisoners kept here and tortured- she knew that's a part of what they did here. Maybe the ghosts were once guards who suffered a gristly death or a lord, betrayed by his own company- she doubted she'd ever find out, but none of this made her mind anymore at ease.

Two stout guards came towards them, large swords in hand. For such tiny men, the swords looked ridiculous on them. It was the tallest of the stout men who spoke first, "Aye, who goes there?"

Brienne shook her head in a tiny movement not caught by anyone, due to the stupidity of the guards. She let Jaime Lannister do the talking, "It is I, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer. Let us through."

Both guards stared at each other shell shocked and doubtful, but there was no doubt that Jaime was telling the truth. "Ser Jaime, please forgive us, we did not realize- alas your father isn't here."

"No worries, in my state I would doubt my identity too. I had suspected my father wouldn't have been here, yet I must enter, my wound needs tending to and both me and my companion need food and shelter for a couple of days."

Jaime began to walk past the guards, however as Brienne tried to walk past one of the guards unsheathed his sword and held it outright, stopping Brienne in her path. "Now who are you?"

The Kingslayer turned back around and moved the guards sword out of the way, "She's with me."

As Brienne started walking again, the guard repeated his past action. "I'm afraid I've received orders to make sure to know every person that comes or goes from Harrenhal."

This clearly irritating Jaime caused him to get up in the stout guards face and speak, "And I said she's with me. You will listen to what I speak and she will pass through." Without waiting for a reply the Kingslayer grabbed Brienne's wrist and pulled her through. Looking back she spotted the guards whispering amongst themselves, but focused instead on the warmth radiating from Jaime's hand still wrapped around her wrist.

After going down dwindling corridors and uncountable staircases, they both arrived in a large meeting room which wasn't largely occupied. Coming towards them, bringing a smile to Jaime's face, was quite a thick waisted man with forest coloured eyes and fair skin. It was obvious to see that this was some kind of relative to the younger Lannister she was travelling with. Both men hugged and Brienne immediately missed the lack of warmth she had only moments ago.

Turning away from Jaime, this man who was clearly in charge, eyed up Brienne wonderingly. "My boy, who might our guest be?"

"Ah yes, my apologies for not introducing you both sooner, Uncle this is Brienne of Tarth, Brienne this is my dear Uncle Ser Kevan Lannister."

The Lannister look-a-like shook Brienne's hand firmly and spoke with believable gratitude, "Welcome we are extremely honoured to have you here, please know you're free to help yourself to the food and other supplies we have to offer. We'll also get a room set up for you."

With a flick of his wrist a small, timid serving boy approached silently. "Boy, go to the maids in the guest tower and have them set up a room for Lady Brienne here."

"Yes Ser."

Without a second to spare the young boy had vanished. Ser Kevan Lannister turned back to his nephew, "Now, by the Seven Gods, we shall get your hand looked to and you'll tell me everything that's happened on your journey here- last we heard you were being held captive by those blasted Starks. Although don't worry about those anymore, they've been taken care of- we've won."

As the Lannister was being guided towards the medical rooms, Jaime quickly mouthed 'Don't worry' towards Brienne as she was left awkwardly standing there.

A pretty woman in rags came up to Brienne and offered to take her down to the Great Hall for beverages. Brienne of Tarth agreed firmly, but as they were walking she remembered to keep her opinions to herself when travelling in dangerous locations- this was definitely one of those. She was in a land of the Lannisters and stating whom she'd previously served or her affection for her past servers would result in certain death or imprisonment. She'd just have to hope that whatever Jaime was telling his Uncle would be enough that she could get out of this place.

Around two hours later Brienne was fed to the maximum, her tiredness slowly overcoming her. After being shown directions to her guest room, she had managed not to get lost in the huge place which was Harrenhal. Her room was exquisite, the four poster bed took up the majority of the space and the walls were thoroughly decorated with various paintings, highlighting some of the battles or figures in history all relating somehow to her current location. There was hardly enough time to finish looking around as her big, baby blue eyes were now failing to stay open. Brienne flung off her boots, weapons and excess clothing and promptly fell into unconsciousness as soon as her head hit her pillow.

Thump, thump, thump. Turquoise eyelids slowly opened to stare at the wooden door. Sighing she staggered over to the door, not caring how she appeared. Awaiting her in the hallway was the same ragged female who had escorted her to the Great Hall. "Good Morning, Lady Brienne. Ser Kevan Lannister is waiting with Ser Jaime Lannister for you in the meeting room. I shall escort you there."

"Of course, I shall just grab a change of clothes."

"Take as long as you like m'lady."

It didn't take Brienne long to make herself presentable, she knew it wasn't wise to keep important figures waiting long, anyway this may be the last time she'd sleep in a warm bed again. The walk to the meeting room was silent, so it was easy for the woman of Tarth to slip into a worrying mindset. She wanted to trust Jaime, she did. The Kingslayer had told her things that he had told no one else, which had to stand for something. Yet there was a tiny itch in her mind making her believe that he had made it all up and had now betrayed her. Nevertheless she knew deep down what he'd told her had been the truth, but how much would he have told his uncle?

Suddenly she was there and her heart was in her throat. Walking determinedly she took a seat at the long table alongside Jaime and Ser Kevan. It was Ser Kevan who spoke first, "My nephew has spoken of his adventures with you as his companion."

Brienne felt sick.

He continued as smoothly as before, "I thank you greatly for looking after him and staying with him through everything. You helped him escape and I just want you to know that you are not to blame for the tragedy that happened to Jaime- also you shall be awarded immensely."

There was silence filled with anticipation. Brienne couldn't understand what had just been heard, was this a trick? A cruel joke? Though looking towards her companion in her travels she found that he was smiling at her, genuinely smiling. It was a great look on him, but she still wondered what on Earth he had told his uncle.

"Um thank you m'lord. Though I require no such reward, only to see Ser Jaime back home safely."

Kevan Lannister grinned at her, "Your honesty and determination is a gift to us all, my nephew was lucky to have such a friend. Your wish shall be granted, Jaime is leaving for King's Landing in a couple of hours time- it would be an honour if you accompanied him."

"It would be my pleasure, m'lord."

Jaime rose, "If you could excuse me uncle, I'd like to help prepare for the voyage. Come Brienne."

Brienne was more than happy for the reason to exit the room. As soon as they left the room Jaime pulled Brienne down a dark, empty corridor. "Told you not to worry." He grinned.

The dusty corridor didn't offer much space for either of them, so both could feel the breath of the other upon their lips. "Ser Jaime what in the name of the Seven Gods did you tell him?" Worry laced her voice.

He placed his non-severed hand upon her right shoulder, "It doesn't matter. All that is of concern is getting back to King's Landing, to which the preparations for departure are already being made. You are safe, as long as you don't run your mouth to anyone." He spoke these words with the grin still etched on his face.

Brienne herself managed a small smile of her own when muttering, "Thank you."

"There you go, you should smile more it suits you more than that scowl you always wear."

A roll of her eyes made the knight chuckle, "How is your hand?"

By this point his fully functioning hand had left her shoulder leaving it cold. He raised his maimed hand waggling his thumb at her, "Actually it's doing well. Somehow, lucky for me, it wasn't infected and they've managed to subdue the pain considerably, so it's functioning great!"

"That's great." She spoke softly looking slightly downwards to meet his eyes. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, the tension increasing dramatically. However time was of the essence, "We should probably go, the horses might be ready for us now."

"You're right." There was something in the rough voice that sounded a little bit like disappointment, but she was no doubt just hearing what she wanted to hear. Although she relished in the scent of the Kingslayer, freshly bathed, lemons with a hint of battle. It reminded her of home- and forbidden fruit, his lips and body something she'd never have and something he'd never want to give to her.

Time later they found two brown furred horses packed with food and other supplies for the end of their journey, Brienne knew that they'd never use all of this up by the time they arrived in King's Landing which would only take them a couple of hours at the most.

In a matter of hours their journey together had almost come to an end and they both knew their farewell to one another would happen soon. Ever since the hallway conversation they'd barely spoken, which left Brienne with an uneasy feeling in her gut. As they entered King's Landing, it was quite unbelievable that they actually made it, despite everything they've fought through. Both horses slowed down to a halt and each got off them.

Jaime began walking ahead, but stopped when he realised that no one was following him. Brienne stayed situated next to her mane with a look of sorrow on her face.

"Brienne, you're staying, right?" The Kingslayer spoke slowly with a hint of confusion mixing in with his words.

The fighter of Tarth shook her blond haired head regrettably, "No Ser Jaime, I'm not. I do not know where abouts I shall travel to now but I made lady Catelyn a promise and I failed her. Now the right thing to do is to find her daughters, so I shall take my leave."

Jaime held his hand up to make her stay where she was, but Brienne knew her last goodbye would be too painful. Therefore she mounted her horse again and slowly began her trot to somewhere new.

When Ser Jaime returned not 20 minutes later he found the stables to be completely empty. Hurriedly he mounted his own steed, refusing to believe that their last goodbye would be a one sided one and rushed through the gate, turning to yell up to the guards on the watch tower. "Which direction did the Lady of Tarth travel in?"

The knighted guard raised his finger and Jaime rode as fast as he could in the direction given. He could feel the strong wind pushing against his face, a slight tingling in his severed finger joints, but still he pushed on. From the slow pace Brienne was going at it didn't take long for the Kingslayer to spot the short blond hair in the distance, to which he sped up and yelled the woman's name. The maroon horse came to a halt as Brienne turned around.

Jaime stopped his horse and jumped down. "What the Hell Brienne? You couldn't just wait for a couple of minutes?" He spoke harshly out of breath. When no reply came he continued, "I didn't want you to leave without having something I found out my father was having made. Here."

In his hands he bared a large, finely crafted sword made from the best steel that could be made. Brienne took it from him gently, turning it over in her large palms. "This is Valyrian steel, I cannot take this Jaime."

As she tried to hand it back to him, he refused it. "Please. Do that sword some good in this world; I know you'd bear it well. Brienne this is my thank you. For everything."

Tears formed in the corners on her eyes, "Then I shall serve well. I shall name it...Oath Keeper. Thank you, Ser Jaime it's been a pleasure."

After a quick pat on the shoulder, eyes on both end filled with longing and want and the female knight had re-mounted her horse looking fearsome with her new blade.

Jaime simply watched her fade into the distance, wanting to reach out, wanting her to stay at King's Landing- unfortunately he knew it could never be.

_The North Remembers..._


End file.
